Statement of voluntary publication
This is a voluntary statement under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Chefs Bay Hospitality Limited (annual turnover under £36 million) is below the statutory threshold that triggers mandatory publication. We choose to publish anyway because our clients in education, healthcare, and contract catering are required to publish their own statements and need ours for due diligence.
This statement covers the financial year 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025.
1. Organisation structure, business, and supply chains
Chefs Bay Hospitality Limited is a UK employment business registered at Companies House under number 13588811 and with the Information Commissioner’s Office under data protection registration ZB226754.
We supply temporary chefs and catering staff to clients across hospitality, education, healthcare, and contract catering sectors. Our registered office is in Chester, and our operational base is in Liscard, Wallasey. We employ fewer than 10 office staff and hold a roster of over 400 chefs and catering workers.
Our supply chain for section 54 purposes covers:
- The chefs and catering staff placed on assignment, including any recruited from outside the UK through compliant immigration routes
- The Identity Service Provider (IDSP) we use to verify right to work for British and Irish nationals (Yoti, a Home Office-certified IDSP)
- The DBS umbrella body we use to process Disclosure and Barring Service checks (Aaron’s Department)
- The clients who host placements (over 50 client organisations across the UK)
- Office-level suppliers (IT, telecoms, professional services)
2. Policies
This statement is supported by the following Chefs Bay policies, all reviewed annually:
- Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy, including the Worker Protection Act 2023 sexual harassment duty
- Safer Recruitment policy aligned with Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2025) and the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014
- Quality policy aligned with the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003
- Environmental and sustainability policy
- Privacy notice published at chefsbay.co.uk/privacy/
We do not charge any fee to work-seekers for finding work. Reg 12 of the Conduct Regulations 2003 prohibits this, and we treat that prohibition as the floor, not the ceiling, of our anti-exploitation stance.
3. Due diligence processes
Right-to-work checks are carried out before any chef is placed. British and Irish nationals are checked via Yoti’s certified IDSP. Other nationals are checked using the Home Office share-code system. Records are retained for the statutory period.
Identity verification, references, qualifications, and food safety training are checked at registration. DBS checks are processed through Aaron’s Department at the level appropriate to each role:
- Education placements involving regulated activity: Enhanced DBS with Children’s Barred List, with Update Service registration mandatory for repeat school placements
- Care home kitchen-only placements: Enhanced DBS, with Adults’ Barred List added on client request where the role involves close personal contact
- Adhoc bookings: Basic DBS may be accepted where the client risk-assesses constant supervision
Defaulting every applicant to Enhanced plus both Barred Lists is unlawful: eligibility for barred-list checking must be assessed per role. We assess per role.
Every chef receives a Key Information Document at registration in line with Reg 13A of the Conduct Regulations 2003, setting out pay, deductions, holiday, and the basis of engagement.
We maintain communication with chefs after deployment, both to support their work on assignment and to detect early indicators of exploitation: unexpected wage deductions, third-party retention of identity documents, controlled bank accounts, restricted freedom of movement.
4. Risk areas and steps to assess and manage risk
The labour-supply sector is identified by the Home Office Statutory Guidance and by the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner as a known risk vector for modern slavery. The specific risks we assess are:
- Workers placed by sub-contracted recruitment partners we have not directly vetted
- Workers whose pay routes through a third party (umbrella companies, intermediaries) outside our control
- Workers recruited overseas by parties charging up-front fees
- Workers in adhoc client environments where supervision and reporting routes are unclear
Steps we take:
- We do not sub-contract recruitment. Every chef on our roster has been registered, interviewed, and vetted directly by Chefs Bay
- We pay chefs directly, in line with Reg 14 of the Conduct Regulations 2003, regardless of whether the client authenticates the timesheet on time
- We do not contract with any organisation that, to our knowledge, supports or is involved in slavery, servitude, or forced or compulsory labour
- We brief chefs on third-party harassment reporting routes before each new client engagement, in line with the Worker Protection Act 2023 duty
5. Effectiveness measured against performance indicators
In financial year 2024/25 (1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025) and the calendar year 2025:
- Over 8,000 catering shifts filled in 2025
- Over 50 client organisations served
- Over 400 chefs and catering staff on roster
- Every applicant underwent the full vetting checklist; those failing any check were not deployed
- No referrals to the DBS were required under our duty as a Personnel Supplier under section 35 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
We will continue to publish this set of indicators each financial year, with the intent of expanding it in FY 2025/26 to include training-completion rates and exit-survey data.
6. Staff training on modern slavery
Office staff have completed harassment awareness training, which covers indicators of coercion and exploitation alongside Equality Act 2010 protected-characteristic protections. We are establishing a dedicated modern slavery awareness module for office staff during FY 2025/26.
Chefs are briefed on reporting routes during onboarding: who to call, what to flag, and the protection from detriment available under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (which covers agency workers under section 43K).
7. Looking forward
The Modern Slavery (Amendment) Bill of 2021, which would have introduced criminal liability for materially incomplete statements, did not progress to statute. The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s 2024-25 report identified non-enforcement of section 54 as a structural weakness and named several major firms publicly for non-compliant statements. Reform pressure now sits with calls for mandatory human rights due diligence.
The trajectory of UK policy is from transparency to active due diligence. We intend to align with that trajectory ahead of any statutory change.
8. Approval and sign-off
This statement was approved on behalf of Chefs Bay Hospitality Limited by the Managing Director on 6 May 2026, and covers financial year 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025.
Michael Szalaty
Managing Director, Chefs Bay Hospitality Limited
Date: 6 May 2026
Chefs Bay Hospitality Limited · Companies House 13588811 · VAT 389155944 · ICO ZB226754
Registered office: 1 Queen’s Park Road, Handbridge, Chester, CH4 7AD Operational base: Liscard Business Centre, 188 Liscard Rd, Wallasey, CH44 5TN
Policy CB-POL-001 · Version 2.0 · Effective 6 May 2026 · Next review 6 May 2027 · Covers FY 2024/25
